Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $250.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AMAT. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $170.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $190.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.68. The company has a market capitalization of $140.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $144.57 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after acquiring an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 252.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,636,000 after acquiring an additional 11,165 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.